I think I've filled my NASCAR quota for the decade

[Eel O'Brian]

My brother came over this evening and of course he had to watch "my races," so of course that meant I had to watch them

what a mindnumbing experience

i was praying for a wreck, or a spinout, or a drunk to somehow wander on the track and get pulped, anything

i think i'd rather go to church than watch NASCAR

[ManaByte]

They just had the Pepsi 500 here in SoCal and the track had to limit people to just one 24 pack per person

[brawndolicious]

So if there's no crashes, spinouts, or nude fans or whatever, what does a nascar fan like to watch the races for?  I mean, oval racing requires a good deal of skill but it's still not that exciting to watch a driver overtake somebody else when the track is either straightaways or wide turns.

[BlueTsunami]

I love playing the game cause it all "LETS SPIN EACHOTHER OUT. YEAAAHHHHH!". The fun factor is multiplied by x10000000 for each human player added (starting at two).

But as far as watching it? Let me put it like this, its not even good as background noise. The announcers can be so obnoxious and nothing happens so you get these shitty exchanges between them to fill the void. I feel for you Eel O', I couldn't sit through that shit.

[Joe Molotov]

Worst "sport" ever. And that includes televised poker.

[Bocsius]

The racing is terrible. They switched over to a new car that all the teams have to use, dubbed the "Car of Tomorrow." There's very little passing with it. If you start in the back of the pack, that's where you'll stay unless you can gain some ground during pit stops. If you start out front, that's where you'll stay... unless you lose ground on pit stops. So barring accidents, shredded tires, and engine failures, races are won and lost where? That's right, on pit road. Where there's a speed limit. Yawn.

Couple that with the fact that the current crop of drivers are as vanilla as it gets, thanks in no small part to being completely beholden to their corporate sponsors, and NASCAR is about as boring as it has ever been. The one guy with on and off track personality, Tony Stewart, has had to tone it down this year thanks to being an owner of a team. He has to play nice. The villain everyone loves to hate, Kyle Busch, is little more than a spoiled brat off the track that throws tantrums and storms off if he doesn't win... but doesn't really use the bumper on the track to dice things up. Villain-light.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I still think NASCAR is just an excuse to get drunk and to see the occasional wreck.

I'd find it hard to believe that watching cars race in an oval track for 500 laps is somehow exciting without getting shitfaced.

[DJ_Tet]

Even when you are shitfaced it's fuck boring.


Looks amazing in HD though, those HD cameras placed in the track take it to a whole new level.

[Mr. Gundam]

"Mah races" is the the male equivalent of "mah stories."

I will never undestand the fascination with the National Driving Around in Circle League.

Couple that with the fact that the current crop of drivers are as vanilla as it gets, thanks in no small part to being completely beholden to their corporate sponsors, and NASCAR is about as boring as it has ever been. The one guy with on and off track personality, Tony Stewart, has had to tone it down this year thanks to being an owner of a team. He has to play nice. The villain everyone loves to hate, Kyle Busch, is little more than a spoiled brat off the track that throws tantrums and storms off if he doesn't win... but doesn't really use the bumper on the track to dice things up. Villain-light.

You make it sound like wrestling.

[Bocsius]

Well, it helps when the drivers have personality. After all, as people have said, it is just turning left for four hours.

That personality can manifest itself in how they drive, how they conduct themselves off in pre- and post-race activities, whatever. In years past, you could identify with a driver. Most came from working class families. Mom worked in a diner, dad worked in a factory all his life. Grandpa and no less than two uncles were mechanics. Junior had been working on cars since he could hold a wrench (which also happened to be his first toy). Racing was a family affair and was filled with emotion. As the sport has grown in popularity and has expanded beyond just a predominantly southern thing, and as more and more corporate dollars are involved and more and more technology is necessary to compete, the drivers are less familiar and less interesting. The sport is so expensive that more and more it's less about who can drive the car, but who instead has a pretty face and can bring in sponsorship dollars. They're a bunch of automatons selling razor blades and cellular service.

...and they turn left for four hours in a car that can't make passes.

[ferrarimanf355]

NASCAR only got boring when Jimmie Johnson started to win races left and right. And he's going to make it four in a row now.  :'(

Fuck this shit, when does the WRC season start again?

[Bildi]

WRC is on right now with just Great Britain to go in a couple of days (if you haven't been watching).  And there's only one point in it between Hirvonen and Loeb meaning unlike last year it's actually interesting.

I hope next year Hirvonen is truly up on Loeb's level, meaning a great season.  Starts around February.

[ferrarimanf355]

WRC is on right now with just Great Britain to go in a couple of days (if you haven't been watching).  And there's only one point in it between Hirvonen and Loeb meaning unlike last year it's actually interesting.

I hope next year Hirvonen is truly up on Loeb's level, meaning a great season.  Starts around February.

HD Theater only got it recently, and 2010 marks the WRC debut of Ken Block.

Hopefully, the WRC adds special stages with guys puttering around on Segways. 

[Bildi]

It's a good time to start watching since 2010 is likely to be one of the best seasons ever.  Hirvonen should be a genuine contender and it's been a long (and rather boring) time since Loeb has had real competition.

More drivers in the form of Ken Block as well as Chris Atkinson's return is great news too.

[ferrarimanf355]

I think Ken Block is going to drive a Ford Fiesta, since Subaru isn't competing in WRC anymore. I guess the Fiesta taking the win at the X-Games rallycross was enough to convince him.